Lexus LX test drive since 2008 SUV

Brothers in mind

What are the children of some parents who were born at the same time, endowed with uniform features, but what are very similar to externally? Sisters, brothers, twins? No, this is Toyota-Land Cruiser 200 and Lexus-LX570. The metrics of newborns are Anton Chuykin and Anatoly Fomin.
 
One of us will go to the west
And the other is even further. The presentations of both machines took place in distant warm edges; However, it was worth returning (one from the Canary Islands, the other from California) to immediately find the Land Cruiser, first in the Volgograd car dealership, then on Moscow street Toyota is sold in Russia (forward Europe, by the way!) From the end of the last year: 2.2 million . rub. For a gasoline version, for 12 thousand rubles. more expensive diesel; In February-March will appear in Lexus car dealerships. Here is the first difference! We will look for the rest on the dusty paths of distant countries.
IS THERE LIFE ON MARS?
The hills of a reddish rocky desert (landscapes of a neighboring planet!) Fring the Landcrusov caravan higher. A narrow primer obliquely intersects a dilapidated stone wall, which once served as the basis of the hedge. Gently passing sharp stones past the sides, now it's time to spin the steering wheel to beautifully go around the obstacle of the stop machine! Someone ahead again cut the side of the tire, a pickup with a load of wheels hurries to the rescue. The wind outside is such that there is neither desire nor strength. Well, they started off. Cryak, crunch, Bryak !! I forgot about the stones under the right side, I went directly to the result in the photo - and in my head: the road should be remembered, nothing should distract from obstacles!
Here, for example, a steep, very cool descent: on a diesel machine, press the DAC (Downhill Assist Control) key in addition to reduced gear - crunching with brakes, Lendcrose -shaped, like a cargo elevator, lowers passengers hung on the foot belt belts. But the reverse function - help when touching the mountain - disappointed: while you transfer the leg from the brake to the gas, the car manages to roll back, then tries to slow down, then again fidgets on the slope in a hurry to give coks and jump up, the benefit of the new 4.5 -liter thrust The off -road diesel is enough with excess. The motor, by the way, was specially worsened for Russia: it performs only Euro III and develops 235 forces instead of the source 286, the company considers its first diesel eight a champion in economy among classmates; However, in rough terrain, the consumption still went off scale for 20 liters. One of the highlights of the design is an electro-, not a vacuum drive of rotation of the turbine shoulder blades, which works and more precisely and faster. Thus, it was possible to increase the productivity of the supercharger.
No, it can not be! On these stones, forming the likeness of an exploded staircase, the car will not get out. But the instructor (alas, others were not allowed) on a gasoline machine is selected to the ridge, includes the lower row of transmission, blocking the differential and turns the handle CRAWL CONTROL (CRAWL - English to crawl): Now the all -terrain vehicle independently, regardless of external conditions, will maintain a given low speed. Only the steering wheel remains the driver! He deftly he wields them, almost waistening out of the window - having stared, I did not notice how we overcame the blocks, doing what could not be. It turns out, maybe.
WHAT FOR?
Then, that Lendcrose has been doing what for more than 50 years an unprepared viewer believes with difficulty. And this, the eighth generation, the Land Cruiser 200 (or V8 - now under the hood there are only such motors) is ready to surprise with cross -country ability as predecessors. True, a modern car with all the attributes of comfort is sorry, and it costs so much that sometimes it is cheaper to go a grader a road or hire a helicopter.
And therefore, in Russia, these all -terrain vehicles are niaped: they have been prepared for 90% of the time to travel on asphalt. During the test drive, they left us only 10%: they drove it?
Do not get excited! Firstly, the speed is limited, and secondly, it is not so easy to disperse a 3-ton station wagon: a gasoline motor is better and quieter, but to forget that you are driving a large all-terrain vehicle will not give this power unit, Not all the more diesel. But the turns are surprisingly easy: you are preparing to slide along the seat to the close average body rack or leaning on a wide armrest, looking behind. Of course, there are rolls, but I was waiting for much large. Thanks to the KDSS device.
After the sandy dunes, who were also at the disposal of the organizers of the test drive, after the rocks, the winding of the serpentine, even asphalt and the rocky coast of the Atlantic, there are so many impressions that it is difficult, perhaps, to highlight the main thing. Respect for the car? Perplexity by frequent frequency of then (10 thousand km for a gasoline machine)? An attempt to understand who the car is addressed to? And how long is it still destined to live real all -terrain vehicles?
But if I was offered once again to go through the same route on any car, I would choose a diesel land of Cruiser. At least in order to move that damn fence without damaging the threshold!
Find the differences
The former Land of Cruiser 100 also had a double: Lexus-LX470. We tested this couple exactly 5 years ago (ZR, 2003, No. 2). So today: new cars come out with a couple and their main components are the same. Better to look for differences.
Firstly, the engine and gearbox. If Toyota and Lexus had the same gasoline motors in the previous generation, now the engine has almost 80 hp. more powerful. The growth of power and torque is achieved by increasing the piston of the piston by 18 mm, in which the operating volume of the engine increased exactly by a liter. To use the potential of the unit as efficiently as possible, paired with it works a six -speed hydromechanical gearbox, which can now be controlled manually. Result: acceleration time to 100 km/h decreased by 1.7 s. You should not look back at maximum speed - it is limited, however, at a very decent level of 220 km/h.
Secondly, adaptive hydropneumatic suspension with the wise abbreviation X-AHC+AVS. Now she knows how not only to raise and lower the body (at the command of the driver or in accordance with the transmission mode), but also automatically selects the damping mode of shock absorbers, depending on road conditions. And also - prevents the rolls, slander and build -up of the car, since its damping elements are connected by diagonal hydraulics.
Thirdly, a bunch of little things inside and outside. Starting from video cameras, viewing blind zones on four sides of the car, and ending with a 9-inch screen for the rear passengers (the only option of Lexus). And also - the decoration of the salon with a wood tree growing in equatorial Africa; It is distinguished by a rich reddish-purple color and exquisitely thin texture.
On Highway with the ranch
This Lexus knows how to ride off -road! Move the ditch, climb a steep hill on a primer with promoons is not a question even without a reduced transmission. A dependent rear suspension saves the diagonal hanging, which behaves much better than independent on the off -road. When there are not enough its possibilities and when moving the next promo, two wheels hang in the air, the rigid blocking of the center differential no longer helps - the A -TRC anti -wings system comes into business. So the problems did not get to climb.
If in addition to enable external chambers hidden in the rear view mirrors, you can consider each pebble under the right wheel. For an off -road in a California style, when the main obstacle is large boulders and it is necessary to accurately choose a trajectory so as not to damage the car, this is an excellent help.
In America you do not drive a lot, but the winding paths come across the hills. In a comfortable suspension mode, Lexus is felt on them with a heavy car and thoroughly roll, but at the same time is not very inclined to buildup. In the sport position, the rolls decrease, but the feeling of heaviness is not able to overcome either the motor or suspension - all the time it seems that you are going slowly. Oops! This is miles, and 60 means almost 100 km/h!
On the California Frive No. 5, pendants do not have to rest. The concrete coating is laid out with slabs that walk slightly in height. However, I noticed this only when I caught up with BMW, the driver and passenger of which shook his heads amusingly, as if entering a trance from some kind of hungering fifth. Hanging in a dense stream opposite the polished, like a mirror, tanks, I consider the reflection of my car. Yes, my wheels are also jumping, but the body does not move!
It seems that I understood the secret of the attractiveness of this car. When you are inside, you are absolutely not concerned about what usually bothers outside - neither road, no noise, no dust, nor the sun. Under the blue sky of California, the rest of the Buddhist temple reigns in it. Lexus is a personal island in the world of everyday problems, and not a combat horse of the conqueror. At least on this continent.
The axes are crossed
Lark passages are the key to successful off -road exercises: even on very serious bumps, the wheels do not lose touch with the soil. In front, the compression rate is increased by 11 %, the end is 18 %; The total course of the front wheels reached 230 mm. However, at high speed, off -road suspensions worsen controllability. The problem is solved by the KDSS (Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System): the device automatically changes the characteristics of the front and rear d -resistance stabilizers using hydraulic cylinders. In the case of unilateral roll when driving along a flat road in hydraulic cylinders connected by pipelines, constant pressure is maintained. This allows stabilizers to work as usual, limiting the body's roll at an acceptable level. When crossing the axes (ordinary off -road business), the pressure in the hydraulic system drops and the stabilizers are disconnected. As a result, the suspension makes a full move without any counteraction, providing high cross -country ability.
Orchestra Mark Levinson
It includes a six -disc chainer with the ability to read DVD and CD with almost any recording formats, 19 speakers, sound processor 7.1 here you can not only watch Hollywood blockbusters with breathtaking sound effects, but also enjoy the audio films in the DVD -Audio format for those on which The taste of branded CDs are digitized too roughly. However, even if your ears are spoiled by a sound hi-end, sometimes listening to the plebeian MP3 and even VMA files will not hurt. Straidivar from electronics, alive and alive Mark Levinson belongs to compressed formats without arrogance. In a word, regardless of the source, the sound of the system will be pleasant. I checked with my own ears, which, despite the 37-year life, are still not badly distinguished by nonlinear distortions from phase.
Toyota Land Cruiser 200 - Even conservatives strive for progress. In addition to the new chassis, the eighth generation received a whole arsenal of electronic systems to overcome off -road. The prestigious Lexus LX 570 offers an even wider set of comfort tools, not at all applying for patency. And to check it or not is the case of the owners of Toyota and Lexus ..
 
 
 

 

 

Source: The magazine "Driving"